Mexico. Recently, Technical Provision IFT-011-2017 came into force, by which manufacturers of mobile terminal equipment that already have a receiver of FM radio signals must enable it.
In this regard, the National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry (CIRT) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, the regulatory body of communications in the US) will state that most smartphones have a "chip" that allows capturing FM radio, but that currently there are few devices in operation that have the active chip.
It should be noted that this order does not require mobile equipment manufacturers to incorporate this technological capacity to receive FM radio frequencies, but that those that already have the receiver chip be activated to effectively tune stations.
This seeks that owners of both smartphones and feature phones can access live radio content for free, without the need to use their mobile data or be connected to a WiFi network.
In a context of a manifest demand for the consumption of audiovisual content, these preferences for broadcast content are revealed in the market.
For example, according to ifT (https://goo.gl/ugzvAr) statistics, 40% of Mexicans listen to at least one radio station and 17% do so through a cell phone. All this, together with the fact that traditional radio continues to be one of the main sources of access to informative, cultural, educational and musical content.
It is worth asking ourselves here what effects are foreseeable from this measure. The aforementioned technological opening should stimulate competition within the market for broadcast content, for example, music and information, while maximizing consumer welfare by having a greater offer of content in the palm of his hand.
Undoubtedly, this possibility of accessing radio content through a growing base of smartphones (90.7 million at the end of 2016, 17.3% more than in 2015 and 80.6% of mobile lines) and basic mobile equipment or feature phones that subsist in the market, would put the offer of audio through the internet that sometimes requires a periodic subscription face to face with that broadcast offered free of charge.
Likewise, it opens the possibility to be the route to level the conditions of access to traditional radio and that transmitted through the internet. At the same time, it shows the regulator's intention to promote access to broadcasting services under conditions of competition, plurality and universal coverage, as well as the progressive integration of traditional and current audiovisual content platforms under the same competitive ecosystem.
Additionally, and as has always been recognized in broadcasting, in emergency or disaster situations it is the most timely and effective way of information or delivery of alerts, in circumstances in which cellular networks may be out of operation.
It is not a minor issue and as such should continue to be evaluated in its pros and cons.
But for now, this order of the regulator seeks and seems to be conducive to form a route of benefit to the consumer based on the use of technological capabilities.
Text written by Ernesto Piedras of The Competitive Intelligence Unit.
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